Health Canada, in partnership with Statistics Canada, has conducted a study involving communities in Southern Ontario and Prince Edward Island to better understand the impacts of wind turbine noise on health and well-being.

The success of a small German village, population of 2,600, in building its renewable energy system is remarkable. The town of Wildpoldsried sells excess power back to the national power grid for roughly $5.7 million in additional revenue every single year. Wildpoldsried is used around the world as a “best practices model in motion” for renewable energy.

Japan has switched on the first turbine at a wind farm off the coast of Fukushima. “We are moving ahead one step at a time. This wind farm is a symbol of our future,” said Mr. Yuhei Sato, governor of Fukushima Prefecture. With 143 turbines, this wind farm will eventually generate one gigawatt of electricity.

Coal, Nuclear and Natural Gas are proven to contribute to climate change, acid rain, and smog. Furthermore, the pollutants released into the air from traditional energy production include arsenic, chromium, mercury and lead – compounds shown to cause cancer and brain damage. As a result, some Ontario doctors are asking the province to commit to renewable energy on a large scale.

No there is not, according to a recent study of more than 600 magnetic field measurements carried out at the Kingsbridge 1 Wind Farm located near Goderich, Ontario. Magnetic field levels in the vicinity of wind turbines are lower than levels that people are exposed to on a daily basis in homes, offices and schools, and much lower than exposure received from many common household electrical devices.

Ontario’s environmental action is being praised while coal-consuming power plants are being phased out. Ontario’s largest air polluters are nitrogen, sulfur, heavy metals and toxic chemicals – all of which are produced during coal energy generation. With the closing of the coal-fired plants between 2003 and 2010 there was a 40% decline in Ontario’s airborne particulates and toxic air contaminants. Energy Industry analysts are encouraging Americans to “look across the border and learn something.”

This article by David Suzuki reports how illnesses related to wind farms stem primarily from opposition warnings – being told something may be harmful can generate symptoms in individuals. Subjects given information relating to the harmlessness of infrasound reported no symptomatic changes whether they’d actually been exposed to infrasound or not. Those who had been shown anti-wind footage regarding the perceived dangers of infrasound reported symptoms even when they had been exposed to “fake” infrasound. People in Australia were shown to be more likely to complain of turbine-related health issues when exposed to anti-wind campaigns.

Air pollution in Canada was responsible for 28,000 deaths, 92,000 emergency room visits, and 620,000 doctor’s visits in 2008 alone – The same air pollution that can be significantly reduced by implementing alternative energy production.

A study at Sydney University revealed the majority of Australian wind farms had never been subject to noise complaints, and of those that had been, 68% of complaints were related to the five wind farms most commonly targeted by anti-wind media. The study also showed that 80% of complaints about health and noise were reported after 2009, when wind opponents added health topics to their agenda. There have been 18 reviews of the research conducted regarding wind turbines and health since 2003, all of which have established the same conclusion: there is little or no evidence indicating that wind farms directly affect one’s health.

Air quality, or lack thereof, forces many Canadians to seek medical attention, resulting in approximately 6,000 hospital admissions over a period of nine months. Not only is this worrisome from a health perspective, but providing care to people affected by poor air quality puts a huge strain on the provincial health care budget. Additionally, with the increasing cost of fossil fuels, renewable energies are becoming the more financially feasible option.

Lisa and Alvin Kroll have agreed to build a turbine on their property despite some backlash and opposition from their community. Lisa considers the anti-wind signs and posters to be a greater eyesore than the turbines themselves, and has noted that the highway at the back of their 115 acre property is louder and more disruptive than the sound of a nearby turbine. Their confidence in existing turbine-related health studies has been a factor in their decision-making: As grandparents, Lisa and Alvin would never accept a turbine if it meant potential health risks to their visiting grandchildren.